In keeping with Texas A&M’s Vision 2020 objective of graduating students with a global perspective based on global experiences, the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences provides a limited number of travel stipends to students to help them gain international work/study experiences. The following travel reports give an overview of what our students learned while living, working, and studying abroad.

India - Archana Krishnan

Working as a Global Impact Fellow for Unite for
Sight in Chennai, India was an incredibly rewarding experience both
academically and culturally. I learned a lot about the field of
ophthalmology while experiencing Chennai’s rich culture this past
winter break. Pranav Eye Clinic is an organization that partners
with Unite for Sight to bring in volunteers from abroad to provide
eye care to those living in poverty in Chennai who cannot otherwise
afford it. I was enrolled this internship for three weeks, from
December 14, 2013 to January 4, 2014, during which time I acquired
the basic skills required to do an eye exam including checking
vision, screening for cataracts and performing refraction for both
near and farsighted patients. Along with eye camps, I was also able
to observe nearly fifty cataract surgeries that were sponsored
using the trip fees that I provided to the organization.

While I was volunteering, my days began early in the
morning at a free eye camp in one of the slums of Chennai. At each
one of these camps, I worked alongside local optometrists to
provide approximately 500 patients with a free eye screening along
with cataract and trauma consultation if needed. A typical patient
screening would begin with me having him or her read of a set of
letters or numbers on a vision chart. Based on how much of the
chart they were able to read I would give their vision a rating
based on a six-meter scale. If the patient had 6/6 vision, which is
comparable to the 20/20 vision we use to refer to normal vision in
the U.S., I would advise the patient that they were normal and ask
that they have an eye exam at least once a year. If the patient
read anything less than 6/6 I would perform a refraction exam under
the supervision of an optometrist to determine what power of
glasses they needed to be prescribed. If the patient were over the
age of fifty I would check for cataracts, and if they were positive
for them I would refer them to hospital and explain their condition
to them. This is where my ability to speak Tamil was extremely
helpful: unlike the other volunteers who had very limited
communication with the patient due to language barriers, I was able
to answer their questions about cataracts. The most gratifying part
of my experience was being able to comfort nervous patients by
explaining that the cataract surgery is a simple procedure that
will cause them minimum pain, and that they would be able to resume
their daily activities within hours of surgery. One of the patients
I counseled was a fifty-five year man who works on building
construction. He had a mature cataract in his right eye caused him
to have very limited range of vision that obstructed his
work. After his surgery he told me that he was very thankful
for the free surgery because he would never have been able to
afford it otherwise. He would now be able to support his family
because we were able to restore his sight. These patients that we
identified as needing cataract surgery were then referred to Pranav
Eye Care Hospital where I was able to observe their surgery the
following day. In order to gain a more in depth perspective of
cataract surgeries, the doctor I worked with allowed me to perform
mock surgery on a goat’s eye. I found this an extremely challenging
task, as I was not used to working through a microscope, which
projects a reverse image to your eye. This also proved to be a very
delicate task as the membranes of the eye are extremely thin and
very easy to tear. The goat’s eye surgery helped me to fully
understand the steps of cataract surgery, as well and realize how
incredibly difficult the task was that the experienced surgeons
made look so easy.

One of the most eye opening experiences during camps was the
number of illiterate patients I would encounter who could not read
number charts. It was stunning to me how so many people of ages in
Chennai, a major city of India, were not able to read or recite
numbers. For these patients we used the “E” chart which was a
series of E’s rotated various ways. I would point to each E and the
patient would use their hand to show me which way the spokes of the
E were pointing. Another one of my interesting observations was the
way in which people in India view diseases in general. Many of them
are uneducated and are therefore incredibly frightened of diseases
even as common as cataracts. Some even believe that they have
cataracts because they have done something to anger the Gods. This
impacts the way in which they receive treatment because they will
refuse to have surgery until they are convinced that a cataract is
a part of the normal aging process and not necessarily God’s way of
chastising them.

After I was finished with the camps and surgeries, I would have
a few hours when I got to go out and explore Chennai. Some of the
important landmarks I visited included the Marina Beach and
Mahabalipuram, a collection of ancient stone carvings located right
outside Chennai. The thing that made my experience complete was
being able to try the large variety of delicious food options
available for every one of my meals

After my Unite for Sight Chennai experience, I feel that my
desire to become a physician and serve others has increased a
thousand fold. I am definitely looking forward to my future in
healthcare, and I feel more motivated than ever to continue my
involvement in global health.